ENJOY SPRING BREAK

First day back is April 1

Dear Parents/Guardians,
Maple Grove just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that we are still in the cold and flu season. As such, it is important to be reminded that encouraging students to wash their hands regularly is important. Also, do not send sick children to school. There is a general rule of thumb in the healthcare industry that students should be at home at least 48 hours after being sick. This is for two reasons. Firstly, sending a sick child to school only infects other children… not to mention that the sick child is miserable and would rather be lying down resting and recovering. Secondly, sending children to school- when they’ve just been off sick and their immune system is compromised, only increases their susceptibility to catching another virus or cold from other sick students.

One of our classes was impacted by a scenario similar to the above. Our engineer crew (and the teacher) washed toys, manipulatives, surface areas throughout the week. During the Spring Break, engineering staff will disinfect the room. It is thought that the cleaning and two-week break will kill any virus living on a surface.

There have been increased reports of student illness at school. This virus is circulating in the community at this time.

During winter months, infections are common, especially in schools during winter and early spring. Symptoms usually include a sudden onset of nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea. They’re uncomfortable. People infected usually get better on their own after a few days, without treatment. Because a virus causes these infections, antibiotics do not work.

Keep your child home from school if they become ill with the symptoms listed above. Children who fall ill during the school day will need to be sent home as soon as possible. Children should not return to school until 48 hours after their symptoms have stopped. These measures will help stop the spread of the virus to classmates and school staff. Make sure your child drinks lots of clear fluids to prevent dehydration. If symptoms last more than a few days, or are more serious, contact your family doctor.

Viruses can be contagious but not everyone who is exposed will get sick. If children do not have any symptoms, they can go to school.

Frequent hand-washing with soap and water is very important to reducing the spread of any virus. This should be done by students, staff, and family members at home, especially after using the bathroom, and prior to preparing or eating food. Children should not share food or drinks with their classmates.

ParticiPASSION Fun

Cash4Clothes:

Will you be Spring cleaning during the break? Are you looking to find somewhere to dump all of the stuff you don’t need or things that no longer spark JOY in your life? Did you miss our first drop off date or have more bags to donate? Well, the Maple Grove PAC will be doing a second drop off date after Spring Break! On Wednesday April 10th from 2:30 until 4pm, you can drop off your filled bags in the gym vestibule.

Invite your family, friends and neighbours to participate! Items can be collected in large black or green garbage bags. Alternatively, if you need bags, you can pick them up in the office!

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Good Afternoon Maple Grove families. You’ve probably noticed the wood + orange plastic fencing/ tree protection barriers going up around the trees on 45th Ave and Cypress St. That means it’s probably not long before we’ll start seeing the beginnings of site envelope fencing, etc. I’m quite certain you can expect to see the metal perimeter fencing going up sometime after Spring Break.

Congratulations to the Senior Boys and Girls Basketball teams. While the Sr Boys ran into very strong teams throughout the season, they played well, learned a lot, developed skills and tried hard. The Sr. Girls team had an excellent season winning all but one of their games. They made it into the City Tournament, but lost to the City Champs in a hard fought, fast-paced, game this week 44-34. Thank you to Mr. McDonough and Mr. Evans for coaching both teams.

We’ve had a lot of student and staff sickness at Maple Grove over the past two weeks. Parents please adhere to the following recommendations:
1) Do not send sick children to school – they don’t feel well or function well- and they infect other kids and spread their viruses.
2) Keep sick kids at home- they can afford to miss a day or two of school if they’re really sick.
3) If your child has just been sick… make sure they’re truly feeling up to being back at school. Rationale: if your child has a compromised immune system, your child is more susceptible to being reinfected and getting sick- again!
4) That’s why it’s important for sick children to stay at home.. When children have compromised immune systems and they are exposed to other children who are sick… they get sick again.
It’s a vicious circle.

Please don’t send your kids to school if they are not well!

There is a nasty stomach bug that is going around. Many of our students have contracted this and are coming back to school before they are completely well. There is no immunity against this bug and people can get sick more than once. Please read the guidelines below from Public Health on when to send your child back to school after being sick.

PAC Meeting

At the March 1st PAC Meeting we had a special presentation from Ms Lucas’ class on recycling. Well done Division 16!

Movie Night:

ALOHA! It’s a Tropical Themed Family Movie Night!

Escape the cold and wet Vancouver weather and join us in sunny and warm Hawaii with an umbrella drink in hand! Well, not quite Hawaii, but come dressed in your best beach outfit or a pair of tropical themed pyjamas for our next Movie Night at Maple Grove. Let’s celebrate and have some fun! We will be showing Disney’s Moana on Friday March 8th at 6:30 pm in the Gym.

A Few Reminders:

$2 Admission per person (a mini freezie will be included)

Doors open at 6:00 pm

Popcorn and treats will be for sale

Bring your own water bottle (NO drinks will be sold), a pillow, blanket and a stuffie!

This is NOT a drop off event. Please ensure your child(ren) attend with an adult

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Maple Grove Families,
Another busy week has drawn to a close. Lots of things happening around the school. Our Senior Boys and Senior Girls basketball teams are in mid-season and doing very well. We are hopeful that as the season draws to a close they will continue with basketball in high school.

Snow days (school closures) are rare in Vancouver. Thank you to everyone for being diligent and listening to the radio and watching social media for information regarding schools and weather. This year we had only three phone calls about whether school would be open.

Our Lockdown drill went very well. Thank you to everyone for accommodating our practice as we work through various emergency procedures throughout the school year to ensure the safety and security of all students.

Special Thank you’s to our PAC Exec for hosting a lovely Lunar New Year Tea in the library last Friday. It was a nice casual way to end the week and celebrate a special time of the year.

HIP HOP Dance lessons are in full swing. This is part of student’ Physical Education Program and a special treat for all students. Thank you to our awesome parents for making this event possible for our students. We could not do this without your support!

ONLINE School Fees in Vancouver. Vancouver is moving to an online system for parents to pay fees. This will apply to all schools in Vancouver. This is applicable for school fees, supply fees, field trips, etc. More information to follow… but to date 3/4 of Maple Grove families have registered!!!!! Bravo!!!! This really helps parents track fees paid AND it helps Mrs. Peters in the office!

Schools are beginning the process of starting to plan for September, 2019. This is a crucial time when having a magic crystal ball would be lovely. That being said, knowing about Maple Grove family plans for next year is important in the projection and planning process. Please know that we are actively trying to garner a sense of how many students we will have throughout the school in both Montessori and Traditional programs. Any assistance you can provide regarding new families in the neighbourhood, or transfer outs would be appreciated.

Please be reminded:
1. Friday, February 15 – School Closed- Curriculum Implementation Day
2. Monday, February 18- School Closed- Family Day
3. First day back at school is Tuesday, February 19

Enjoy the LONG weekend!
Friday, February 15th is a Curriculum Implementation Day
Monday, February 18th is Family Day- No School

If you have young children (3-4 year old) or know of any in our neighbourhood, please let them know about our Ready Set Learn event on February 22nd.

Moments from Snow Day

The beautiful scene on Tuesday at Maple Grove. A good day to cancel school!

Parent Parking Patrol- Expression of interest.

Dear Parents… the school continues to have concerns over the fascinating and often dangerous driving habits we witness on a daily basis in front of the school. It’s clear that we need adults out there on a daily basis to remind drivers of safe driving habits and to ensure the safety and security of our children as they come and go in the morning and after school.

If you are interested in being a member of the school parent parking patrol, please send an email to Principal Evans pevans@vsb.bc.ca and he will add your name to a list of parents who are interested in having a meeting to devise a schedule so that parents can assist in observing the safety and security of children at the beginning and end of the day.

You may reach Principal Evans at pevans@vsb.bc.ca

ALL PARENTS… Please Register.

Maple Grove is moving to an online Payment system. This will allow you to easily track and document payments for school materials, field trips, and activities.

Have you read the yellow and oranges notices that were sent home this week?

Register and shop for Hip Hop Program.

Dear Maple Grove families,

We are delighted to share with you that from February 11th to 25th, as part of the PE program, all students from Kindergarten to Grade 7 will be taking hip-hop lessons with a professional instructor, Jheric Hizon from Boogaloo Academy. During these high energy and super fun workshops, students will work on a routine to present to the whole school at a Final Showcase Performance.

This fun-filled dance program was very successful at Maple Grove last year. Our staff is excited about this opportunity and we view bringing in an expert dance instructor as a valuable way to enhance our Fine Arts and PE program.

To showcase what students have learned, there will be a performance on Monday,

February 25 at 1:30 pm in our gym. Parents are invited! There will be limited seating available on the stage. We are excited to be hosting a program in which students of all ages can participate.

The cost for the four workshops and performance is $15 per child. Lessons will take place during PE times, with classroom teachers present. We are delighted to have this item available for online payment. Please see attached orange sheet with further details on how to register for online payment. The deadline for payment is February 15, 2019.

The link to register for online payment is https://vsb.schoolcashonline.com. For this activity, there are limited circumstances when Maple Grove will accept payment by cheque (payable to Maple Grove Elementary). Please submit any cheque payments to your child’s teacher.

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Maple Grove Families,
After being sick with the flu for the past week, it’s nice to be back in the building seeing all the busy happy smiling faces. There are lots of events taking place. The first one being our gr 7 Camp-In. This was an experience Ms. Smith and I thought about while working at a recent conference. We’ve made no secret that one of our goals at Maple Grove is to create a culture of success and belonging for all persons (students, staff, parents). To that end, we want teachers to feel passionate and appreciated for the tremendously difficult job they have under challenging circumstances. And we want them to feel acknowledged and appreciated for their great work. We want our students to have an engaging, robust, fun-filled and relevant education that provides them opportunities to acquire skill sets they can use to be productive contributing members of society. As well, we want our parents to feel that their children are safe and secure at Maple Grove and receiving a quality education from passionate, caring educators who are working to create a culture of successful teaching and learning at the school. We want our parents to feel involved and be engaged in knowing about their child’s education.

ARTelicious was a program/event we planned last year to bring the community together. We are working on something similar for this year. But we also wanted to reach our student leadership core and build bonds with those leaders who have a crucial role in this, their last year, at Maple Grove. So Ms. Smith and I felt we needed to pony up and “go the distance” for our gr 7 leaders. Hence… gr. 7 Camp-In.

Balloons of Freedom

Setting the stage

Camper introductions

120 cups of popcorn before movie night

quiet time activities

Huge thanks to all the grade 7 teachers who do so much for the students on a daily basis. This was our little way of acknowledging them and giving them some time where they didn’t have to always be “on” for the kids. We appreciated the opportunity to work with their kids and build strong relations. Also, we’d like to thank our awesome student planners. These students worked with each division and helped to shape, organize and deliver on many of the activities we worked on at the camp. Special thanks our Extra Clerical Office staff, Ms. Lincoln who gave up her family time to spend the over night with us! Also, one of our awesome gr 3/ 4 teachers Ms. MacNiel who didn’t even hesitate to volunteer. She jumped right in and didn’t miss a beat. We’d also like to thank Mr. McDonough. He was on board from the beginning and never waivered. We appreciate his calm, thoughtful leadership style and his commitment to the MG students. Finally, none of this would have even happened if it weren’t for the determination, dedication, and silent power of Ms. Smith. She truly has the interests of all learners at heart and strives everyday to create fabulous opportunities for students to grow and learn more about themselves and one another. Bravo Team!

LOCKDOWN DRILL- TUESDAY, FEB 05 at 10AM

From time to time, all schools practice LOCKDOWN drills in the event of an emergency occurring at the school. Maple Grove is no exception. Tuesday morning at 10 am, we will be working with our policing partners to ensure that our emergency drills at Maple Grove are up-to date and effective. At 10 am we will be locking all interior doors and staff and students will go into Lockdown mode. We really don’t want parents and visitors in the building while were conducting these drills. While we will have signage around the school, we would kindly request that folks give us from 10:00 to 10:20 to work through our drill. Thank you.

On Line Payments available for Maple Grove Parents!

We’ll go live on Monday, February 4th.

The Vancouver School Board will now be offering School Cash Online at Maple Grove Elementary as its preferred method of payment for all school fees, including everything from field trips to yearbooks. This secure system helps parents/guardians and community members pay school-related fees safely, quickly and easily online.

The new system puts all of the school fees available to your student online for purchase, keeping you informed of your child’s activities and needs. We will post items through the system and assign the relevant fees to your child. You can then purchase these fees online with one of three different methods, including credit cards. You can also stay informed and keep track of which school fees require your attention. The system strictly adheres to Canada’s privacy and anti-spam legislation and meets the latest industry standards for payment security.

Please don’t send your kids to school if they are not well! Please read this letter from Vancouver Coastal Health.

Candygram Sale

There will be a Valentine’s candygram sale from Monday, February 4th to Wednesday, February 13th. Representatives from the Global Citizenship Club will be selling in the main hallway every day at recess. Candygrams will be $1. There will be a card for you to write your friend’s name, division and who the treat is from. All proceeds will go to a clean water project in Haiti.

Special thanks to Maple Grove PAC!

Thank you to the PAC for decorating the library and main hallway for Lunar New Year! Please join us for Friday , February 8 morning coffee and goodies in the library 9:00 to 10:00 am.

Want to Play Badminton?

The VSSAA (Secondary Schools association) is offering badminton skills sessions for students on the Jan 25 + 28 pro d days. Follow the link if interested.

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Maple Grove Families,
Welcome back! We look forward to a wonderful term and remainder of the school year! This week has been busy with SPED meetings, two Physical Health Education Parent information sessions (one on Tuesday and one this morning) as well as an Choice Program Montessori “K” and Gr 4 meeting for new families planning to attend in September.

Regarding seismic news, we have been told to anticipate fencing to be erected at the beginning of February. The electrical transformer work with BC Hydro is now complete.

Please read the notice below… it will affect everyone on Tuesday morning. We are asking that you have your children at school on time that day otherwise you may be profoundly inconvenienced due to a safety drill taking place at Magee and Maple Grove.

All Parents… please read this…

WHATMaple Grove will be having a Secure + Hold drill

WHENTuesday, January 15 at 9:05 am. It effects the whole school

WHERE
The school exterior doors will be locked and nobody will be allowed in or out

WHO
This applies to ALL students, ALL parents, ALL staff, ALL visitors

WHY
From time to time, all schools practice drills for a variety of emergency situations. Lockdowns (where there is an active threat) and Hold + Secures (where there may be a threat in the nearby community) are scenarios schools practice to ensure that if there was to be a situation outside our control, we will have some idea how to respond in a safe and secure manner.

HOW
A Secure + Hold Drill is when the school receives information that a potentially serious incident is taking place in our nearby community… and the police ask the school to lock our exterior doors only as a precaution. Students may move within the building, but nobody is allowed in or out during the drill. We anticipate the drill lasting approximately 20 minutes.

If you are in the school when the drill starts, we will be insisting that you remain in the school for the duration of the drill.

If you arrive late to drop your child off… and the drill has already started, you will be asked to remain outside for the duration of the drill and to seek shelter in your vehicle.

We do not expect parents to be knocking on the school doors during this drill as we will be busy with the police and communicating with our staff.

SITUATION
Two years ago, Maple Grove and Magee Admin Team with the VPD decided to utilize a communication app to communicate with one another when situations were taking place at either school. This has been tested and used in several real situations at both schools. The VPD and VSB want to observe the two schools using this process. Rather than do it when nobody is around… in an effort to make this as real as possible… they’ve asked to conduct the drill at one of the busiest times of the day. They would like to see how this works and what the two schools do.

On Tuesday morning at 9:05 am, Magee will Lockdown and Maple Grove will go into Hold + Secure. We anticipate this drill lasting about 20 minutes. It”s important for us to practice this drill so that in the event of a real situation, we can keep students as safe as possible.

Please don’t arrive after 9:00 am Tuesday. Please don’t hang around on Tuesday morning unless you want to be locked in the school with us for 20 minutes. Please don’t arrive late and stand at the doors knocking to come in. Please don’t line up and wait outside the school until 9:30 (go back to your car and wait patiently) Please don’t call the office or email the school as we will be busy with the police and communicating to our staff. Please be on time Tuesday and let us practice the drill on our own.

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Maple Grove’s Exceptional Group.

For families with special needs (physically and neuro diverse) kids, navigating the school system can be complicated, stressful and lonely. Connections and information can help. Come join your community in this warm and friendly FREE 6-week parent led group for adults supporting special needs/physically and neuro diverse learners.